SaVe: First Sounds of the Future
by Shnerdle
Summary: Hatsune Miku is the epitome of the flawless girl. But life within the walls of her home is far from perfect. Struggling to collect the pieces of her broken family, music is her only escape, linked to her dream of being a diva. When her older brother Mikuo starts coming back into her life, he carries a strange attachment to Miku and is bent upon making her dreams come true.
1. 1: The Loop

**Title**:  
**Summary**:_ Hatsune Miku is the epitome of the flawless girl. But life within the walls of her home is far from perfect. Struggling to collect the pieces of her broken family, music seems to be her only escape, connected to her dream of being a famous. When her older brother Mikuo starts coming back into her life, he carries a questionable attachment to Miku along with him and determination to make her dreams come true._  
**Rating**: T-M  
**Warnings**:_ Domestic violence, Incest(mild for now)._  
**Characters/Pairings**: _____Miku-centric, MikuxMikuo, hints of other _pairings

A/N** Okay, so first off, this is the first story of the second volume of SaVe [concept/summary in my profile]. Secondly, I'll probably get pretty excited with this, so if you like novels (ehehehe...) this is probably sort of close. Oh, and be wary of song references. They're vague, but there and significant (You can guess in the reviews, and I'll post it in the next chapter). My pace is usually 1 chapter/week just so you know.****I try real hard to be consistent because that's what I want from others. I'll accept critiques or any piece of advice- anything you want to say. Okay, wow, this is a really long Author's Note. Enjoy the story.**

* * *

I hastily opened my front door, eager to get inside and relax before my parents got home. Fiddling with the lock, I remembered Rin-san's comment from earlier, and giggled to myself. She's just so funny sometimes.

What I found when I opened the door was the farthest thing from amusing. But the even sadder thing was, it wasn't a surprise.  
Broken beer and whiskey bottles lay, scattered through the hall. A few flasks containing a strong, I presume, alcohol of some sort rested on the couch.  
I thought it was all good. I thought things were getting better. I remembered mom's comforting voice:

"Honey, we're fixing things. Home isn't dangerous, home is safe. It's all okay."  
All is obviously **not** okay, when the house is saturated with the smell of booze, and littered with smashed glass.

With tears streaming down my face, I uneasily retrieved a broom from the cleaning closet and swept the floor in silence.

**.-:-.**

It was around 5:30 pm when I came home. I don't know why I felt the urge to return so early, I usually stayed out until 10 or 11, depending on how I felt. Miku was sweeping the floors when I got in. Before I could make any kind of remark, I saw her solemn expression and what she was cleaning up; my face fell to match hers.

I knew this would happen. It's the same cycle. They always said things were better, convinced us and even themselves for a while, until money got tight again, things got rough and dad had a bottle of scotch in his hand; you'd recognize the sounds of the fighting and their agitated voices from outside, where Miku and I would sometimes escape.

She looked up at me with puffy red eyes, slightly startled by my sudden entrance, before seeing my empathetic look. Her face started to scrunch up and small hiccups left her mouth.

"Miku..." I said, at a loss for words. She ran towards me and I embraced her. I hadn't shown this level of affection in a while, preferring to stay away from everyone when they would cart around plastic smiles and artificial happiness, and feeling as if I would ruin it with my presence. My rebellious nature didn't allow for me to play along with their little charade.

"M-Mi-ku-kuo-kun, I-I-" she stuttered, attempting to conjure a sentence through my dampened t-shirt.

"Sshhh. It's okay, Miku." I comforted her, gently rocking back and forth, almost maternally. I felt her shoulders jerk up and down from silent sobs. The fistful of my shirt she'd clawed onto tightened and twisted with each inhale.

As I rested my chin ontop of her head, I made a personal vow in my head.

_Miku, I promise from now on, I'll be there to protect you, to comfort you, and always be there when you need me._

It was funny though; through my thin t shirt, I could have sworn I felt her smile.


	2. Chapter 2

_I have to deeply apologize for my inconsistency. A lot of things have prevented me updating earlier, but probably none of those are important to you. Due to the changes in my life, I think I'll have to slow down my pace to two weeks. The next chapter is already half done, and as an apology, I'm writing a Valentines day fic (I've wanted to for a while), so. Thank you for reading, and please try to enjoy this (not as) painfully short chapter._

_The last chapter was ever-so-loosely based on Rolling Girl by wowaka_

* * *

..._Therefore, the only possible answer is 0._

I scribbled down my last answers in my math notebook and leaned against the back of the chair, staring up at the ceiling pensively. My homework was done, the house was clean, all the laundry was taken care of, and I had finished preparing dinner. My OCD always seemed to switch on whenever I was frightened, upset or overwhelmed. Right now, I felt all three.

Fragments of disturbing memories flashed in my mind, and I viciously shook my head, as if doing so would erase them from my memory.

In an attempt to avert my attention, I scanned my brain for a distraction.

_Earlier today, wasn't it? I was singing a song...how did it go again?..._

As it slowly came back to me, I scrambled around frantically, searching for a pencil and staff paper.

With rushed markings, notes appeared on the treble and bass clef as I hummed the tune and agilely wrote it on paper. I still amazed myself with my ability to transfer music from my head to paper so easily, despite having so little experience or training.

Not 3 minutes later, I had finished the rough draft. Leaving it to rest on my desk, I examined it, secretly proud of my work.

_ Wow, that was probably my fastest time...it's not my best one though. Maybe I should try playing it...if I can get around to recording and mixing it, maybe—_

The slam of the front door snapped me out of my thoughts.

Mom was back.

.

..

...

..

.

"So...", Mom's eyes glanced up at us before taking a mouthful of rice, "How was school today? Anything interesting happen?"

Mikuo and I questioningly exchanged glances.

_ That's it? Isn't she going to explain the incident? Why does she care about how our day went, all of a sudden?_

He shrugged. _How should I know? _His head jerked towards our mother, motioning for me to go along with it.

"Um, great. You know that pen pal program Sasaki-sensei set up for us?" I encouraged her efforts for making conversation.

"Oh, yea." She didn't: I never told her. "Who was yours again?"

"Mei. Sasaki Mei*, um, she's sensei's neice. She was telling me about her older sister, how she has all this stress on her, and that she doesn't have any time for singing or playing instruments. That's what she really wants to do. Anyway, we shared our letters during lunch, and Ren** - you remember the Kagami twins, right? From the cultural festival?- yea, well he said that he was a pretty amazing singer. Rin corrected him and said that Ren's definition of amazing was a walrus getting run over by a lawn mower. So after they got into a fight, she dared him to go up and sing in front of the class to prove how 'good' he was. He just mumbled something under his breath and stayed in his seat; it was really funny." I smiled, recollecting the days past events.

"Wow, sounds like you had a lot of fun." She was trying. She really was. I just couldn't imagine how hard it would be to switch from our mom, to a typical mom. I mean, she was loving and nice, but not the way other people's mothers were.

When I was younger, I took ballet lessons and Mikuo would have soccer practice; both were right after school. During our long car rides none of us would ever really talk to each other. She wouldn't ask about school because she knew I would tell her if anything important happened, and vice versa. The radio would always replace the silence and we were all comfortable that way. Before we opened our doors, she'd always remind us how much she loved us, because those things were important to her. Love; family. She'd lost most of hers in an accident that left her as property of her aunt.

Losing everyone you loved, everyone who was a part of you, right in front of your eyes...changes you. She told me that story when I was ten. I cried, but she assured me they were all in heaven, singing with angels and - _having ice cream with God!, _I interjected. I remember her light, warm laugh followed by a reassuring _yes. _A slightly sorrowful smile introduced the moral of her grim story. _Miku-chan, bad things will always happen to us, and there will always be problems in the world. But only if we feel we are loved and have a sense of family, will we be able to surpass these hardships and truly thrive._

My eyebrows angled upwards as her words echoed in my head. As I slowly zoned in, I could hear my mother putting an equal amount of effort (if not, more) into making conversation with my brother. This was as successful as talking to an automated telephone operator, with his blunt one-word replies and all. If I knew one thing about her, I knew she was persevering and stubborn, and those happened to be two of the traits Mikuo had inherited, so God knows when they would be done.

I ate the last of my gomoku gohan*** and excused myself before making my way to the closet by the front door. I pulled on my coat and slipped my gloves on as quickly as possible, eager to finally escape from this cage. The second I had unlocked the door, I heard my name, and whipped around to see Mikuo bounding down the hall after me.

"Hey, I'm coming, I can't stand another minute of Mom." He announced, hastily grabbing his jacket.

"Uh— I-I didn't say you could..." I my expression matched the stunned look of a deer in the headlights.

"Yea, well unless you want to wake up to the strangled, lifeless body of your brother, I suggest you let me tag along." He smirked down at me, jacket on and ready to leave.

"Ugh, whatever." I rolled my eyes in defeat, "Just...behave.."

"Mom, I thought you were still in the kitchen." He replied with a snippy undertone, following me out and closing the door behind him.

I ran outside, the brisk, cool air of winter hitting my pale face. A sudden surge of power ran through my legs from the exhilarating feeling of freedom, and I sprinted down the pavement with abnormal speed. The houses and fences were a blur as I sped past them. I accelerated as I reached a familiar park, the place where I had spent many hours of my childhood.

I slowed down to a stop upon arriving and glanced over my shoulder to see Mikuo running and calling after me. I smiled at the feeling of accomplishment blooming inside me.

"Huff...huff...Jeez, Miku, where'd that come from?" He looked up at me, having finally caught up and out of breath, resting in a sort of half squat; his hands on his knees, supporting his upper body.

"I don't know...I felt like I've been cooped up all this time, like, trapped or something...and this feels like flying." I scanned the playground, sentimentally visualizing me running around and playing on the slides and ladders.

"I thought it was time your pretty legs showed their true potential." He commented, a shadow of a smirk resting on his lips.

"Ew. You did not just say that."

"It's true." His smug laughter overlapped his words.

"You're such a weirdo.", I rolled my eyes and lightly slapped his arm, softly laughing as well, "Like, you _do_ know there are borderlines between siblings, right?"

It was probably my imagination, but his smile seemed to falter ever so slightly; so faint, I wouldn't have noticed if I didn't know him as well as I did.

"We do _a lot_ of things normal brothers and sisters don't do."

"Like what?" I didn't really know a lot of other siblings.

"Like talk to each other," I smiled, "or do stuff together. Or comment on each other's bodies."

"Only you do that, because your strange and don't have any limits." I retorted

"You did too. 1st year middle school, you said I needed to work out more if I ever wanted a girlfriend."

"Just some helpful advice. It worked, didn't it?" I reminisced about our time in middle school nostalgically.

"Ya...ya, it did...", his cool hand came to rest around my smaller one.

I felt a vibration in my pocket. Reaching in, I slipped out my phone to see a text from mom.

**Sweety where are you? Wheres Mikuo? Are you alright? Why didnt u tell me u were going out? **

I sighed at my mom's attempt to sound concerned. This was an extremely safe neighborhood, we used to play here with our friends until dark, when we were younger.

**Sry 4 not telling u. We're taking a walk, it's fine. Luv u.**

Mikuo gave me a questioning look.

"Mom." I explained and he nodded, comprehendingly.

"Hey...I'm glad you're back. I missed you." I beamed up at him.

"Me too.", he smiled sentimentally, an emotion quite rare for Mikuo.

"Let's go home. Dad won't be back until late at night." I felt his now warmer hand lightly squeeze mine.

"Ya, I'm sort of tired." I returned the gesture as we slowly strolled down the narrow street.

Our relationship was funny. From a passerby's perspective, we probably looked like a couple. But we'd gone through so much together, we'd become pretty close and things like Mikuo's weird comments to holding hands were normal for us.

All I hoped for was that he'd never leave me again. Because this time, I had a gut feeling I would need him more than ever.

* * *

_*Sasaki Mei is Sakine Meiko, MEIKO's __derivative and her little sister here._

_ **It's officially spelled 'Len', but here, he's going to be Ren for the time being. And I know everyone uses Kagami as their last names, but I thought it sounded good with thier names, so I didn't want to change it. Plus it makes sense._

_ ***A variation of takikomi gohan, gomoku gohan can commonly contain __gobo_ (burdock root), _abura-age_ (deep-fried tofu),_konnyaku_, carrots, and shiitake mushrooms. I hear it's really good, and my friend gave me a recipe for it.

_Man, I did a lot of research for this chapter, even though most of it isn't apparent. The next one should be posted soon, but no promises, because obviously, I'm terrible with those types of things._


End file.
